Give your Bust a Boost

Chest exercising isn't just for men. Developing your chest muscles and working your "pecs" (aka pectoral muscles) is smart and beneficial for women.

A treasure chest of benefits 

It's important to strengthen your chest for a number of reasons. For starters, it helps keep your upper-body muscles in balance, which improves your posture. These two things decrease stress and tension on your muscles and bones. That makes you less injury-prone.

A strong chest helps you do the things you need to do every day, because those pec muscles add power to your shoulders and arms. It takes more than biceps to push up a heavy garage door, heft a heavy grocery bag or mow your lawn. You need the kind of upper-body strength that comes from powerful chest muscles.

If you're looking to add a little bulk to your bosom, it helps to build up those pec muscles, says NASM Elite Trainer Ann Scritsmier.

How to pump it up 

Two exercises are traditional ones: the dumbbell bench press (do it on the floor if you don't have a bench) and the good old push-up.

How to preform the dumbbell bench press:
Lie on your back on a flat bench with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Point your feet straight and make sure they are shoulder-width apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at chest level and place them slightly outside your body with your elbows flexed. Press both dumbbells up and together, fully extending your arms and hold this position. Return the dumbbells to the starting position and repeat.

How to do do push-ups:
Begin in push-up position with your feet together and toes on the floor and your hands placed slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Draw-in your navel and contract your glutes. With your back flat, slowly lower your body toward the floor, lowering and contracting your shoulder blades. Push back up to starting position being careful not to jut your head forward.